ISAR Autumn 2015 Newsletter

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October 23, 2015

Dear Friends,

As ISAR’s supporters know, we engage in extensive public education, including the creation and dissemination of monographs and other material dealing with animal rights: Newsletters, interviews, billboards, observances, seminars, blogs, websites, speeches, courses, articles, reports, memoranda, radio shows, and public service announcements.

This summer, in furtherance of ISAR’s mission to use law and legislation to protect and advance animal rights, ISAR filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief in the Supreme Court of the United States urging that body to accept a First Amendment case whose outcome will affect the wellbeing of animals.

A Texas statute suppresses the pure speech of veterinarians, and thus constitutes a grave danger to animals.

You can read the entire brief submitted by ISAR to the Supreme Court of the United States on our website.

For further information regarding this particular case, our friends at Animals Today Radio conducted an interview with Institute for Justice lawyer, Rob Peccola. To listen to this interview please visit the Animals Today Radio website, www.animalstodayradio.com. (See August 22, 2015 session “Adventures in cruelty free shopping. Will a Texas radio Veterinarian get shut down? Dog and cat vaccinations – all you need to know.” Interview with Attorney Peccola begins at the 15:00 mark.)

A Parked Car Could Kill Your Dog

In ISAR’s Summer 2015 report, we informed our supporters of the dangers of leaving pets, most often dogs, in a parked car especially during the warmer months. To raise public awareness, ISAR created an eye-catching billboard with the slogan, A Parked Car Could Kill Your Dog. During the summer months, be kind to your dog. Leave him at home. ISAR’s striking new billboards were posted near busy shopping districts in Pennsylvania during the months of June and July to educate people against this dangerous practice.

ISAR received several requests for our “A Parked Car Could Kill Your Dog” information cards. One such request came from Officer Bryant of the Montgomery Humane Society Humane Officer Division in Alabama who planned to distribute the cards to Deputy Humane Officers and circulate them throughout their community. In his letter to ISAR, Officer Bryant said, “We serve a population of approximately 300,000 citizens and each year we have hundreds of reports of dogs being locked in cars. Your consideration in this matter is greatly appreciated and we thank you for offering these cards to shelters.” ISAR gladly sent hundreds of cards for distribution. Anyone who wants more should contact ISAR by mail, phone, fax or email.

International Homeless Animals’ Day® 2015

International Homeless Animals’ Day® (IHAD®) 2015 was commemorated for the twenty-fourth consecutive year on August 15th with observances in more than 35 U.S. states, Canada and involvement in numerous foreign locations including Australia, Belize, Cuba, France, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, South Africa, and Switzerland.

Since 1992, ISAR has reserved the third Saturday of August as a platform for thousands of dedicated, humane-minded people to come together in solidarity to enlighten the public about a tragedy that affects all communities, cat and dog overpopulation and its simple solution: spay/neuter. IHAD is often marked with candlelight vigils, blessing of the animals ceremonies, spay/neuter clinics, adopt-a-thons, animal shelter open houses, microchip clinics, marches, speeches given by veterinarians, humane officers, and shelter personnel, and much more.

Twenty-four years since its inception, International Homeless Animals’ Day continues to grow and has helped pave the way bringing pet overpopulation to the forefront while opening doors for others who promote spay/neuter days, clearing shelters of adoptable animals into loving new homes, and remembering companion animals who are placed in shelters or left to fend for themselves on the streets through no fault of their own.

Citing a new trend, more humane organizations are taking International Homeless Animals’ Day to the next level by not only commemorating the Day itself, but coincide their spay/neuter/adoption outreach all month long.

Last year, ISAR highlighted an IHAD event hosted by Spay/Panama in our Autumn 2014 newsletter. We reported nearly 500 cats and dogs were spayed/neutered in honor of International Homeless Animals’ Day in Panama City. This year, ISAR is proud to inform our readers that Spay/Panama has since expanded their IHAD spay/neuter efforts and significantly increased their dog and cat sterilizations to 2,125.

Here, verbatim, is the report submitted by Patricia Chan, Founder of Spay/Panama of what happened there in honor of International Homeless Animals’ Day 2015:

Panama, like many other Latin-American country has an enormous problem with homeless animals. We dedicated the whole month of August to bring awareness to the plight of Homeless Animals. For 2015 IHAD, we joined forces with the Mayor’s Office of Panama District, Fundacion Rayos de Fe y Esperanza, with the local authorities and schools in Burunga and Alcalde Diaz, the residents of several communities, Spay/Mexico and Dr. Marvin Mackie, creator of the Quick Spay Method to:

spay/neuter a total of 2,125 animals (1,196 dogs and 929 cats).

hold several radio/TV interviews on animal welfare.

give a conference on No More Animals Suffering in the Streets at the auditorium of the Mayor’s Office of Panama.

meet with the veterinarians in the Chitre area.

give a presentation about the Quick Spay Method to the Veterinary School of the University of Panama, including two surgeries in front of them.

All these activities touched the lives of countless guardians, rescuers, students, professionals, and animals. The people reached through the radio and tv interviews cannot be measured and over 100 people attended the conference on No More Animals Suffering in the Streets. The major spay events had a great impact on two communities, Alcalde Diaz and Burunga. The people that live in these two communities are low-income and cannot afford to spay/neuter their animals in a veterinary clinic, yet they are aware of the life changing benefits of sterilizing their pets. They formed long lines before we set up and in these two communities we treated 1,348 animals.

Panama Mayor Jose Blandon attended the No More Animals Suffering in the Streets conference hosted by Spay/Panama.

We were pleasantly surprised that the Mayor Jose Blandon attended the conference No More Animals Suffering in the Streets and gave the welcome note. More so with the local authority Jose Gonzalez Medina from Burunga that understood the need for low-cost massive spay events and is already asking for another spay campaign. This would be unheard of, sometime ago.

At the Escuela Union Panamericana in Alcalde Diaz and Escuela Lucas Barcenas in Burunga, the children were attentive to the talks of humane treatment of animals and were the ones responsible for making their families take their pets to the spay campaigns.

Because we met with the veterinarians in the Chitre area, we will begin training two vets on September 20.At the Escuela Union Panamericana in Alcalde Diaz and Escuela Lucas Barcenas in Burunga, the children were attentive to the talks of humane treatment of animals and were the ones responsible for making their families take their pets to the spay campaigns.

50 senior veterinarian students watched the Quick Spay Method created by Dr. Marvin Mackie as part of Spay/Panama’s IHAD observances.

The 50 senior vet students that watched the two surgeries using the Quick Spay Method were eager and focused to learn.

Hundreds of dogs were outfitted with new collars and leashes, vaccinated, de-wormed, and flea-treated during Animal Allies International Homeless Animals’ Day observance. Many of the dogs and cats who attended are in the process of being spayed and neutered as a result of this event.

This year, IHAD received participation from many new organizations including several in South Africa. For instance, Animal Allies in Johannesburg held an IHAD Vaccination Day, Spay/Neuter Clinic and Spay/Neuter Educational Campaign vaccinating, de-worming, and flea-treating more than 200 cats and dogs. When asked about their IHAD experience, Karen Chitongo, Manager of Animal Allies, had this to say, “We had a hectic but wonderful day where we saw 200 dogs and about 15 cats. We made a list of all those animals that were not sterilized. To date we have sterilized all the cats and each week did 10 dogs, which comes to 42 so far. We will continue with the sterilizations. The community had a positive reaction towards the day. They do not have means of transport and were very happy that we were helping them at no cost to them. We explained that having their pets sterilized reduces the overpopulation of so many unwanted puppies and kittens. We also explained that fighting amongst unsterilized males is also reduced as well as infections and disease. The animal guardians understood and agreed to have their animals sterilized.”

Thanks to the Edenglen Primary School in Edenvale, South Africa, funds were raised while food and supplies were collected in honor of International Homeless Animals’ Day for Paws R Us. Speeches from a local K9 Conservation Unit and several members from Paws R Us educated hundreds of students about the importance their work plays in helping animals. Excited for the opportunity to talk the students about animal issues, Ms. Chantelle Murray, Paws R Us Director, said, “Informing the children of today is beneficial because they are our future society.” We couldn’t agree more!

Even with a modest budget, The Placencia Humane Society, Belize joined ISAR for International Homeless Animals’ Day and offered a free spay/neuter clinic, fixing multiple dogs and cats as a result.

ISAR can attest that International Homeless Animals’ Day events are making a positive difference in the lives of animals as well as people!

Special Thanks

ISAR is extremely grateful to all elected officials who have taken initiative to recognize International Homeless Animals’ Day 2015. Special thanks to Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Wolf and Fernandina Beach (FL) Mayor, Ed Boner for shedding light on pet overpopulation and the spay/neuter solution by signing International Homeless Animals’ Day Proclamations.

ISAR would like to sincerely thank all media and individuals who helped ISAR promote its 24th annual IHAD observances through the many advertising outlets including radio and television interviews, newspaper articles, blogs, social networking, YouTube, websites, and much more! ISAR is extremely grateful to all vigil coordinators who generously donate their time, efforts and resources each year bringing awareness of the horrific results of dog and cat overpopulation to the forefront by promoting its important and simple solution: spay/neuter. ISAR strives to one day eliminate the pet overpopulation epidemic but we cannot succeed without the great efforts of our vigil coordinators. Thank you!

Because ISAR is the only national organization dedicated solely to working for the day when every dog and cat born will have a permanent loving home – and when our companion animals will be “companions,” not disposable objects left along roadways or abandoned to shelters – it is imperative that we continue our relentless pursuit to educate people of all nations to the pet overpopulation crisis and the spay/neuter solution.